Automobile door and method of securing panels thereto



Se t 27 1927.

P w, s. SMITH AUTOMOBILE DOOR AND METHOD OF SECURING PANELS THERETO Filed Dec.28, 1920 3140014430? Walter a. Smiih,

Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

. 1,543,395 UNITED STATES PATENT 0FFICE..

WALTER S. SQM ITH, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WILLYS -TION,'OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORIPORATION OF DELAWARE.

coaronn- AUTOMOBILE DOOR AND METHOD OF SECURITIG- PANELS THERETO.

Application filed December 28, 1920. Serial No. 433,675.

This invention relates to metal vehicle doors and the means and method for securing the leather, fabric, or other flexible covering or facing to the inner face thereof,

The object of the invention is to slmphfy and improve the construction of automobile doors and the method of assembling the panel therewith, and to provide a neat and durable construction which is economical to manufacture. a

The invention consists substantially in the construction,combination, location and relative arrangement of parts, and the method,

all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, as shown in the accompanying drawing, and finally pointed out in the appended claim.

Fig. 1 is a View in perspective of a metal automobile door showing the panel secured to the inner face thereof.

Fig. 2 is a. fragmentary sectional view taken on line 22 of Figure 1 looking in' the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View of the panel with a cord welt attached to its ed es.

ig. 4 is a detail view showing a crosssection of the inturned flanges provided on the inner face of the door.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of a detail of a modified form of panel.

Fig. 6 is a similar viewof a second modification.

Referring to the drawings, metal automobile door and 2 the panel on the inner face thereof. The inner face of the metal door is provided with peripheral inturned flanges 3. The flanges at the upper and lower edges of said inner face extend the full width of the door, and those at the side edges of said face are cut away at the r lower ends, as shown in Fig. 1, for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

The panel 2, which may be made of any suitable material but which is usually made of card board or fiber board covered with leather, real or artificial, and containing the usual flap-covered opening to the door pocket, is provided with a welt 4 secured to each of its edges by stitching 5 or otherwise. This welt in Figs. 2 and 3 consists of a strip of suitable material folded about a cord, though as explained heremafter, of forming this weltare to be considered within the scope of this invention.

1 designates a other ways -With the construction above described, the method of assembling the panel with the door is as follows: The upper ends of the welts at the side edges of the panel are inserted beneath ends of the latter, this operation being fa cilitated by reason of the side flanges being cut away at their lower ends, and then said panel is pushed upwardl the corded portions of said welts at the side edges of said panel sliding beneath said side flanges ,until the corded portion of the welt at the upper" edge of the panel contacts with the inturned flange A at the upper end of the'door. The next step is to jam the welt at the upper edge of the panel in under the flange at the upper end of the door. It will benoted, by referencev to Figs. 2. and 4, that the flange 3 is curved inwardly on substantially the arc of a circle and that the distance between the inturned edge of the flan e and its base is considerably less than the corded portion of the welt. It is comparatively easy, however, to jam the welt beneath the flange owing to the fact that said flange is made of relatively thin metal and, hence, has considerable resilienceand that the corded portion give or resilience to permit it to be temporarily deformed. The final step is to spring the portion of the welt at the lower edge of the panel beneath the flange at the lower end of the door. In carrying out this last operation it is necessary to slightly bend or buckle the lower end of the panel, which is made possible by reason of the lower ends of the side flanges being cut away. The construction described above provides means whereby the panel may be quickly and securely assembled with and fastened to the door without the use of nails, bolts, screws or similar fastenin means, and whereby, if for any reason it is desired to remove the panel, it is only necessary to reverse the order of the steps described for the assembly of the panel with the door.

the side flanges at the lower of the welt has sufiicient t ickness of the As an alternative of the above method" of I cated beneath the three inturned flanges at the edges of the face of the door. The fourth flange will then be turned or rolled over-upon the fourth edge of the panel to secure the panel in place. With this method of. assembly, it is not necessary to cut away an of the flanges as in the first method.

gtill another method of assembly is not to slide opposite edge-portions of the panel beneath opposite flanges but simply to warp the panel slightly and then force its'edgeportlons beneath the flanges.

In the construction shownin Fi s. 2 and 3, the panel is provided with corde welts at its edges. However, this construction is not absolutely essential, as the welts may be omitted entirely and the edge-portions of the panel itself located beneath the flanges. Where the welts are, omitted, the panel may be rovide'd as shown in Fig. 5 with a perip eral groove adjacent its edges to'recelve the inturned ed es of the flanges, or the edge ortions o the panel may be made slight y thicker than the body portion of the panel by making a two-fold straight or biased bindin This is made by doubling the leather, w ether real or artificial, back ou itself as shown in Fig. 6, at the edges of the board, before the edge of the leather or a fabric that is being used isbrought around under the board, to be finally secured by the stitching 5 or otherwise. Since the welts secured to the ed es of the panel no matter how formed, real y constitute extensions of the edge-portions of the panel, wherever, in the claim, the expression edge-portions of the panel is used, it is to be construed as r ments of the invention shownand described are susceptible of considerable variation without departing from the spirit of the invention, therefore, I desire to claim the in vention broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is Avehicle door having on one face thereof resilient peripheral inwardly-curved flanges, and a panel covering saidface and having edge portions located beneath and engaging said flanges, said panel having a peripheral groove or depression adjacent said edge-portions into which the edges of said flanges extend for detachably holding said panel to said door( In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

' WALTER s. SMITH. 

